by Michael Fox | Dec 26, 2012 | Sports
Men’s basketball assistant coach Shaun Senters is more than just a coach. He’s a true Bison at heart. Senters, a Knoxville native, played point guard for the Bisons from 1994-1998 under former head coach Don Meyer. During his four years with the Bisons, they compiled a record of 119-27, participated in three NAIA National Tournaments, won the TransSouth Conference Tournament and advanced to the NAIA Final Four during the 1995-96 season.“There were a lot of guys that were more talented than me at the university,” Senters said. “But my job was to bring energy, be passionate, and basically have passion to play the game of basketball.” Senters knew his role was to help the team succeed by bringing passion and energy to the court. “Being a role player is not the easiest thing,” Senters said. “You have to bring energy and you have to do the dirty jobs.” Senters graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education. He spent a year coaching with Meyer as a graduate assistant where he got his inspiration to start his coaching career. “I think a lot of coaches have looked up to Coach Meyer, and it was because of him that I coach today,” Senters said. After his one year as a graduate assistant, he landed an assistant’s position at Shorter College in Rome, Ga., for the 1999-2000 season. Back at Lipscomb, the Bisons were making their transition to become a Division 1 NCAA program for the first time in history. New head coach of the Bisons Scott Sanderson needed a coaching staff, and Senters made the cut. Ever...
by Michael Fox | Dec 20, 2012 | Uncategorized
Lipscomb’s Yellow Ribbon program has blessed a lot of military lives since it began in 2009. The program started off with 20 military veterans and now has reached to over 150. One student, Sam Schoenheit, shared his story, inspiring the lives of many here at Lipscomb. Schoenheit attended basic training in summer 2003. At the Marine Corps boot camp, he was indoctrinated into the Marine Recon — the Marine Corps’ most elite fighting force. Schoenheit served two combat tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. While conducting operations in Afghanistan, he was wounded on duty when a bullet fragmented into his brain. “I stayed in the fight for about 45 minutes before I took one,” Schoenheit recalled. “I woke up in Bethesda Naval hospital with a full right side stroke, and that’s when I realized that my journey to recover was going to be a long ways away.” While unconscious, former President George W. Bush personally awarded Schoenheit the Purple Heart. He was also awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his combat services. Schoneheit’s recovery has been miraculous, and he is continuing to progress. “My only missing piece is the right hand hasn’t come back yet,” Schoenheit said. “The shoulder movement and stiffness in my forearm … just awkward and clumsy.” We thank Schoenheit for his services, and we are blessed that he chose to be a Bison. For more of Schoenheit’s story, watch this video by Monaih Sam....
by Jeremy Keck | Dec 18, 2012 | Sports
Lipscomb students are, like millions of fantasy football combatants across the country, gearing up for the playoffs. Many opt to join a random league, but plenty also partake in a private league with people they know, and that play has the added benefit of helping players bond. For Lipscomb senior Tyler Summers, joining a league with his friends has been the most fun way to participate. “I love fantasy football,” Summers, a Bible major, said. “It’s always fun being in a league with the guys so that you can talk trash to them all week.” Summers is in three fantasy football leagues and enjoys the sense of community that comes with each one. “I’m in a league with people from Smyrna Church of Christ where I interned for two years and two different Lipscomb leagues,” Summers said. “It’s great having a group of guys that you can have some friendly competition with and exchange some smack talk leading up to the game.” Many enjoy the community a league tends to bring. However, each game must have one winner and one loser. Lipscomb senior Ethan Johnson has been on the losing end of a lot of his fantasy football games. “Both of my teams suck,” Johnson said. “I’m an engineering major; you would think I’d eventually devise a winning team, but that hasn’t happened for me this year.” Johnson is in two leagues. In one league, he has a record of 3-9 and is in 13th place out of 14 teams. In his other league he is 4-8, but is in last place out of eight teams. “This just hasn’t been...
by Emily Snell | Dec 17, 2012 | Sports
For Emily Harris, director of campus recreation, physical activity and good nutrition aren’t just her job. They’re a vital part of her lifestyle. Harris, who has Type 1 diabetes, thyroiditis and a chronic kidney disease, said her health struggles contribute to her passion for helping college students achieve wellness. “My own personal battles with my own health makes me passionate for teaching people how to be healthy,” she said. “With the chronic diseases that I have — which most people don’t even know that I have — I understand how hard it is to balance your health. Some people it’s a choice; some people it’s not. And if you have the choice to prevent it, by all means, prevent that from happening.” Harris is a 2007 Lipscomb graduate, who competed four years on the university tennis team, before accepting a job opening here in fall 2008. When Harris began working at Lipscomb, there was only an intramurals program. Harris said during her interview for the position, she presented a comprehensive approach to campus recreation. “I basically presented a whole model for Lipscomb that would be a comprehensive program that would meet more students’ needs than just sport,” she explained. “There would be this whole component of being active in body, mind and spirit. We still encompass that whole approach of spiritual, physical, mental, emotional training.” In addition to her campus recreation duties, Harris runs the Lipscomb University Racquet Club with her husband Andrew, who coaches the university men’s and women’s tennis teams.Harris said the two first met while both were competing on Lipscomb’s tennis team during the undergraduate education...
by Emily Snell | Dec 14, 2012 | Uncategorized
Dr. Brandi Kellett knows life is a balancing act. The adjunct English professor, PTO president and mom of three also knows it’s OK to have an imperfect life. “I don’t have to be right, and I don’t have to be strong. Weakness and failure are part of the gig,” she said, illustrating that by looking at the Bible. “In Corinthians, when God says to Paul, ‘My grace is sufficient for you because my power is made perfect in weakness,’ it doesn’t say, ‘I’ll be strong until you get back on your feet, but like really, you need to get your crap together.’ It says, ‘My strength is only made perfect when you are not.’” In other words, human frailties are part of the overall plan and are part of the life experience, she said. “As I’ve become more accomplished in my professional life, my marriage and parenting, and my church and all these different arenas, I’ve actually learned to take myself a lot less seriously,” she said. Along the way, she has realized humility goes a long way toward helping a person live with honesty and integrity, “which is what I think it’s all about.” “I’ve learned that [humility] is actually the key to compassion for other people, which is why it matters so much,” she said. “It doesn’t matter because God wants a bunch of meek, little people walking around. He knows that humility is the key to living well with others. And it really doesn’t happen without it. It’s the key to empathy and kindness and community, I think.” Kellett said even her new role as PTO...
